


The Only Film Genre That Gets You to Root for Daniel

by nevercomestheday



Category: Cracked: After Hours
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Depression, Fluff, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Pre-Slash, Self-Doubt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 16:13:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10994418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nevercomestheday/pseuds/nevercomestheday
Summary: Daniel's been having an off week, so he's decided to watch some rom coms to cheer himself up. It doesn't work alone.





	The Only Film Genre That Gets You to Root for Daniel

**Author's Note:**

> This fic (and the title) are based on the After Hours episode "The Only Film Genre That Gets You to Root for the Bad Guy." 
> 
> This is also only about the character versions of Daniel and Soren, not the real people, and those characters belong to them/Cracked, not me.
> 
> Enjoy! <3

The credits roll on yet another movie and Daniel sighs. He reluctantly gets up off the couch and runs through the shelf of DVDs until he finds  _ She’s All That.  _

“Third rom com in a row. Maybe this one will work,” he mutters under his breath. 

It’s been a weird week for Daniel. That lady did the sign of the cross at him yesterday, his landlord has been bothering him about his “loud and sad” stomping, and Jackson hasn’t been quite as energetic and excited to see Dan when he walks in as usual. He’s been dealing with intense writer’s block to boot, and he’s had to replace three phone chargers within four days.

 

When he settles back on the couch, he hits play on the remote and begins awkwardly pawing around the right side of the sofa for his bag of popcorn. 

It’s times like this Daniel really notices how lonely he is. Sure, he’s friendly with most of his coworkers and sees Michael, Katie, and Soren every night after work at the diner, but sometimes he doesn’t quite feel like they’re  _ his  _ friends as much as he’s  _ theirs.  _

He always sends the first email. He always calls. He’s always the one to get more excited than they do about getting together.

Hold on, that’s not entirely true. Lately Soren has been paying more attention to Dan, it’s just sort of hard to read. It’s even harder to recognize and acknowledge with his own self-doubt chiming in every two seconds.

“He thinks you’re weird. He’s just gonna turn around and make fun of you. He’s laughing  _ at  _ you, not with you.”

 

Daniel watches as Laney gets her makeover, wishing it were that easy. He automatically pictures himself with that haircut and laughs weakly to himself. 

 

He’s humming along to “Kiss Me” when he hears a faint knock on the door. 

“Jackson? Buddy? Did you make that noise?” Dan calls, but he sees the dog wagging his tail and looking at the door when he turns around. 

 

The doorknob sticks (the landlord still hasn’t fixed that, better write another strongly-worded email), and Daniel nearly hits himself in the face with the door when he finally gets it open. He’s surprised to hear Soren laughing softly.

“Soren? What are you doing here? It’s after midnight on a Sunday, is something wrong?” He furrows his brow.

Soren shakes his head, a worried expression on his face. “Not with me, but I texted you like four times and you haven’t replied. That’s not like you at all. You  _ always  _ respond. Even in your sleep.”

Daniel gives a half-hearted chuckle, remembering how many times he’s texted gibberish in the middle of the night. “Yeah, I guess I do,” he says. “I didn’t see your messages, I was-”

He peers over Dan’s shoulder at the tv and raises an eyebrow. “Watching cheesy rom coms?”

“Yeah,” Dan admits. Normally he’d defend himself, or deny it, or something, but he just doesn’t have the strength.

“I…” Soren stops himself. He wants to chide Daniel for the movie, especially since he’s sure this isn’t the first rom com he’s watched tonight, but he picks up on the defeated energy. “You okay?”

“Not really,” he exhales. “It’s been a bad week. Just. Awful.”

Instead of replying, Soren just holds out his arms for a hug. He remembers mid-gesture how weird Daniel can be about physical contact, so he quickly adds, “You, uh, don’t have to-” 

He’s cut off by Dan crashing into him. 

 

“Hey, is that  _ She’s All That _ ?” Soren asks after a moment.

“Yeah, I know it’s like, the dumbest of all those corny late-90s romantic comedies, but it’s kind of charming, right?” Dan still doesn’t move from the hug.

Soren smiles and pats Daniel’s back. “I love this one,” he says quietly. “Mind if I watch it with you?”

Dan pulls away, face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Really? Of course you can, yeah, sure, you want some popcorn or something? I can microwave another bag, I have a few different kinds so whatever you want, I can make it,” he exclaims, hurrying to wipe the crumbs off the couch so they can sit comfortably.

Soren laughs. “I’m fine, I’m not hungry. I just want to watch the movie with you.”

“Oh, okay, great! Should I start it from the beginning? It’s almost over and I really don’t mind watching it again, I like this one a lot and I already know the whole thing practically by heart anyway.” He sits down on the sofa and pats the spot next to him, smiling widely when Soren plops down closer than he’d expected.

“Sure, let’s watch from the beginning.” 

 

Soren spends most of the movie happily watching Daniel enjoy the movie, giggling to himself as Dan mouths along to some of the lines. 

By the graduation scene, Daniel’s head is resting comfortably on Soren’s shoulder, and when the credits roll, Soren notices he’s asleep. Not wanting to wake him, Soren reaches carefully over Dan’s shoulder to get the remote and turn the TV off.

He decides to leave his arm around Daniel, you know, just so he doesn’t risk waking him.

 

Eventually Soren gets sleepy too, and they’ve shifted so that they’re both lying down on the couch, Daniel resting on top of Soren. 

Soren sleeps lightly, waking up just a little every time Dan murmurs in his sleep. He opens his eyes once at just the right time to see Daniel smile softly and nuzzle closer into Soren’s chest, sighing happily.

When they get up the next morning, Daniel is all smiles. It’s the happiest Soren has seen him in… well, ever. 

“I slept great last night. First night in almost two weeks with no nightmares,” he says on his way to the shower. 

Soren smiles. “Good, I’m glad to hear it. Listen, as much as I’d love to stay here and go to work with you…”

Daniel nods. “You’ve got to go home and shower and change. Gotcha. I’ll see you at work.”

Everything seems lighter today, and Dan heads to work feeling better about himself. 

 

He even manages to write an article.


End file.
